Portable folding top for boats



July 4, 1950 K. L. VONDER AHE PORTABLE FOLDING TOP FOR BOATS Filed June 10, 1947 INVENTOR.

KARL L. VONDER AHE Patented July 4, 1950 UNITFED...I SITA;TE

g I PORTABLE FOLDING TOP FOR BOATS I Karl L. Vonder Ahe; Oregon City, -.0reg.

Application June 10,1947, Serial No. 753,517

This invention relates to portable folding tops I t for boats and is particularly adapted to be mounted upon small power driven boats that would ordinarily not have a cabin built thereon.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a top for small boats that can be attached thereon by special fittings.

A further object of the invention is to so design the top that it can be folded into a small package when not in use.

A still further object of the invention is to design the top so that it can be lowered or folded down on the forward end of the. boat when not being used as a covering.

These and other incidental objects will be ap" parent in the drawings, specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a boat partially broken away illustrating the top in sectional view. I

Figure 2 is a broken line front view of the boat including the top in full lines, partially broken awa for convenience of illustration looking into the prow of the boat.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the method of connecting the supporting framework to the upper rail of the sides of the boat and is taken on line 33 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side view of one of the cross bows connecting the side supporting members together and for supporting the top covering.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view of the side supporting members in folded position when removed from the boat.

In the drawings:

A conventional type of small boat is indicated by numeral I. My new and improved top consists of side supporting members 2, 3 and 4 located on either side of the boat when the top is in place. These members are connected tov gether by the cross bows 5 by inserting the ends 6 of the cross bows 5 into the ends 1 of the side frame members. The material 8, which may be of canvas or other suitable material, provides the covering over the cross bows 5 and around the outside of the upright frame members.

First the bows 5 are inserted through the transverse pockets or channels 9 of the covering 8, after which the ends 6 are inserted into the open ends I of the members 2, 3 and 4. Next the covering 8 is secured to the cross member In of the boat by snap fasteners I l.

The upright supporting members 2 and 3 are 3 Claims. (01. res-.6)

pivotally connected to a special fitting l2 at l3 and [4. These fittings consist of a frame I5 having stub shafts l6 pivotally mounted at IT to the said frames. The stub shaft I6 is inserted in sockets I8. The sockets l8 being secured to the upper rail 19 of the boat. These sockets may be specially installed or they may consist of the already installed oar locks on the boat.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be noted that the upright supporting members 2 and 3 slope inwardly. This position or movement is provided for by the pivot point I! while the pivot points l3 and 1 2 permit the members to be folded forward. The side supporting member 4 is adjustable by a clamp 20 embracing the uprights 3 and locked at any desired position by the looking nut 2 I. cured to the covering 8 at 23 and has an adjustable buckle 24 for changing its length relative to the snap fastener 25, which is fixedly secured to the upper rail IQ of the boat I The method of holding the top in rigid position consists of the strap 22 and its snap fastening hold down means 25 and is considered one of the features of my new and improved top for boats, together with the method of mounting the uprights 2 and 3 to the upper rail [9 by the special fitting 12. By simply unfastening the strap 22 from its fastening member 25 the whole top can be folded down after lowering the clamp 20 on the upright member 3 and by simply unfastening the snap fasteners ll across the cross member Ill of the boat and lifting the stub shafts 16 out of the sockets N3 the whole top may be removed from the boat, then by removing the side members 2, 3 and 4 from the cross bows 5 the side members may be folded as illustrated in Figure 6. The bows 5 may or may not be removed from the top material 8, after which the side members and the bows may be folded up inside the top requiring but a small space for storage.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact mechanical construction as other mechanical equivalents may be substituted still coming within the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A removable, folding top for small boats, comprising a cover formed of flexible material, a pair of brackets attached to the sides of a boat, each bracket having a vertical socket, angular shaped castings, lugs pivotally mounted in the castings, the lugs fitting in the vertical sockets, vertically disposed supporting rods pivoted to the castings at right angles to the A hold down strap 22 is fixedly se-- 3 pivots which secure the lugs to the castings, a bar connecting the vertical rods to support the intermediate portion of the cover, forwardly in- I clined supporting rods pivoted to the castings at right angles to the pivots securing the lugs to the castings and below the pivots connecting the vertical rods to the castings, bars connecting the forwardly inclined bars to support the forward portion of the cover, rods extending rearwardly from the vertical rods, brackets slidably mounted on the vertical rods to which the rearwardly extending rods are pivoted, a bar connecting the outer ends of the rearwardly extended bars to" which the rear end of the cover is attached,

means at the rear end of the cover to secure same to the boat, and means to secure the front end of the cover to the boat. v

2. A removable folding top for small boats as defined in claim 1, wherein the upper ends of l the vertical rods are formed with sockets and the connecting bar is formed with reduced ends to fit in said sockets.

3. A removable folding top for small boats as REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1 Name Date 73 },516 Collamore et al. July 28, 1903 1,101,903 Bright June 30, 1914 1,305,407 Prouty June 3, 1919 1,741,318 Kroh Dec. 31, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 176,145 Great Britain Mar. 2, 1922 

